Source 3: Giorgio Morandi
Neutral gray tones, bare objects and supple lighting are characteristic elements of the works of the Italian painter, Giorgio Morandi. Known for his still-life arrangements of bottles, boxes and cups, Morandi paints with cool and warms tones of white and gray. His use of space is minimal, however the complexity of the objects provides a balance to composition and form.
Throughout the 1940’s and 50’s Giorgio Morandi created his still-lives with most of the same objects but with slight rearrangements. In my opinion, his practice calls upon great discipline and attention to how simple forms can exceed their everyday function in our lives. I acknowledge Morandi’s ability to capture a resilience and life to these objects through reorganizing their interaction. In May 2001, Donna De Salvo and Matthew Gale of the Tate Modern in London, curated an exhibition of Giorgio Morandi’s work from several Italian and private collections. They stated “his paintings appear to transcend time and place, an effect he achieved by removing labels from his bottles, faces from his clocks, and people from his landscapes. In fact, many of Morandi's works can be read as arrangements of pure form.”[1] For example in Figure 10, Natura Morta, 1956, Morandi confronts the viewer with five clustered vases and cups. Their slight variations in grays and white build form and stand with solid cast shadows. The addition of a horizontal at the top of the page enhances the visual affects of the space in which these objects occupy. Washed gray areas with vigorous brush strokes carefully line the edge of the horizontal creating a visual balance of unidentified space.
Confronted with arranging still-lives and lighting, I have found a connection between the work of Giorgio Morandi’s and my own. From the limited palette of warm and cool grays to the unknown landscape, my work continues to be influenced by his evocative still-lives. According to the Tate Modern, “Morandi engaged in a lifelong attempt to seize reality through the familiar.”[2] In Figure 12, I choose to draw rolls of receipt paper because it is something that everyone has touched, used or been associated with. Most individuals discard their receipts. They are used to record and catalogue purchases. Receipts are reflections of our consumer society. Consequently, I take blank rolls of receipt paper and arrange them with intricate and delicate folds to draw more attention to its formal qualities. The paper gently folds and bends and strong horizontals are achieved. The image begins to translate and transform into a landscape.
Morandi’s still-life series incorporates the depiction of truth but conveys strong relationships to time and place. Working in a series, allows for subtle nuances of light and dark to act upon each object in a different way. I enjoy exploring those shifts to achieve a strong connection with the drawn item.
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